Unable to Win
by ThreeFriends
Summary: Victoria Thorn has been tormented by five boys her entire life. She learned to fight, but they still want her. When the 52 Hunger Games comes, one of the boys is chosen. Victoria is chosen as well. Will she get or revenge or will she fall in love? By: Mistral
1. Marked For Death

Run. Duck. Dodge. Jump. Kick. Knee in the balls. Keep running.

Victoria Thorn was running home from school in District 5. As always, five boys were waiting for her. First, they wanted what was left from her lunch, then her homework, then her money, and now, they wanted her. Victoria didn't see it coming on the first day. Those five boys almost had what they wanted.

**Two years earlier**

When Victoria was fourteen, five boys had her pinned against a wall in an alley. They took off her top and pants. She was against the wall in her undergarments. No matter what Victoria said, they wouldn't back off. One boy started kissing her and stroked her long black hair, and another was about to take off her underwear. Another boy started to take off his pants. The other two held her in place. Victoria struggled and screamed for help.

Luckily for her, a hobo who lived in the alley stopped it. The hobo fought the boys off, and they ran away swearing. Victoria was still in her undergarments and against the wall. The hobo gave her the clothes and turned away. Victoria got dressed and thanked the man.

The hobo said, "I can teach you how to defend yourself. Women shouldn't be treated like that."

Victoria thought that the hobo might want her, but she realized that the boys would be back. She didn't want that to happen again so she said, "Yes." That day the hobo taught her where to aim and how hard to attack.

The next day the boys were waiting for her again. Victoria was worried and she knew she wasn't ready. Then the hobo stepped out to greet her and walked her to the alley. Victoria trained with the hobo for a month. Victoria started training at home as well.

One day, the hobo wasn't there. So, Victoria walked straight to the boys. They led her to another alley and pinned her to the wall. This time, Victoria was prepared.

She kicked the guy who was trying to take off her shirt in the crotch. Hard. Victoria kicked two others in the face and used her strength to defeat the two holding her down.

When all the boys were on the ground, the hobo came out of the shadows. "Good job," he said, "Come." Victoria followed him and trained with him for another six months. Victoria learned as much about fighting she could. Every day the boys were there, but as long as Victoria was with the hobo, they would leave her alone.

Once again, the hobo wasn't there. Victoria started running. The boys caught her with ease. Since Victoria knew how to fight, she defeated them easily. Victoria was expecting the hobo to come out, but he didn't. He wasn't there the next day either. He didn't come back. Victoria stopped hoping for the hobo and started running.

When Victoria got out of school a month later, the five boys were waiting for her. This time, the boys had brought friends. Victoria ran as fast as she could. If it were just the five, she would have gotten away. But one of these boys had a car, and they chased her down with it.

Victoria had run into an alley. She was trapped with about thirteen boys approaching her. Victoria was not going to give up and she fought. She took down eight of the boys. The others ran away. Since then, Victoria started to learn how to climb. Victoria was soon able to climb buildings. From then on, the boys couldn't touch her, and only the original five didn't give up.

**Present day**

Victoria saw the boys as her daily workout. They could never catch up to her, and they could never beat her in a fight. Victoria laughed at them. She never understood why they wanted her. She wasn't very pretty. Her eyes were an ugly shade of green and her black hair was always as mess. Victoria ran down an alley and scaled a fence. Victoria turned back and laughed at the boys trying to climb up.

"Why do you even bother?" she asked, "You can't catch me and even if you did, I'd just kick your butt." Victoria laughed as she walked away. Victoria never knew the boys names and she didn't care. They were just "the boys."

When Victoria got home, her little brother was crying. It was then when Victoria remembered that the Reaping was tomorrow.

"It's okay Benjamin," Victoria said, "You're thirteen. You won't get picked. Trust me."

"Are you sure Tori Tot?" Benjamin asked. Victoria hated that name.

"Yes," she said, "But if you keep calling me that, I'll make sure you get in next year." Benjamin smiled.

The day was here. Victoria tamed her hair and put on green dress. She stood next to the other sixteen year olds. She kept her eyes on her brother. Victoria looked at the seventeen and eighteen year olds. She saw three of the boys were seventeen and the other two were eighteen.

A man approached the stage that was set up and yelled, "Who's ready for the Hunger Games?" People all around her cheered.

"Great!" the man said, "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!" A video about the Hunger Games played. It was the same one every year and Victoria never watched it. It was sad and brought her discomfort.

When it was over the man yelled, "Time to decide the tributes. Ladies first!" The man reached in a ball and pulled out a name.

"Nathan Hornstiff!" he yelled, "Oh whoops! That's a boy's name. Whatever. Come on up Nathan!" Victoria watched as one of her boys walked up. He was eighteen. Victoria smiled. Nathan looked terrified.

"Now the girls!" the man shouted, "Victoria Thorn!" Victoria was surprised. Her name was only in once. Her family was very wealthy so they didn't need the rations. The man yelled her name again. Victoria walked up to the stage.

Nathan looked at her. He puked.

"Oh that's gross!" the man yelled, "Can someone clean this up? Anyway, does anyone volunteer?"

A girl stepped up, "I volunteer as tribute."

"No!" I shouted, "This is my honor and mine alone. Sit down. No ones going to volunteer for this boy either or I will kill you myself." The girl quickly sat. No boy stood up.

"Isn't she a feisty one! Okay then," the man yelled, "These are your tributes for the 52nd Hunger Games. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor!"

"Oh, they already are," Victoria said.


	2. Marking a Death

The ride from District 5 to the Capital was short and very awkward. Well, awkward for Nathan. Victoria was having the time of her life. Their mentors kept rambling on and on about life in the arena. Victoria didn't listen. She knew how to fight. Nathan couldn't look her in the eye.

The mentors said, "You two are going to become supper close. You might even fall in love."

Victoria smirked, "I know for a fact that's not going to happen."

"You never know," said their mentor, "It happens all the time."

"Not for me," Victoria said, "I know for a fact that this boy will die. Maybe by my hand." Their mentors looked concerned.

"You shouldn't talk like that," one of them said, "You two are going to work together to win. Then you can kill each other." Victoria just smiled and went to her room aboard the train.

In about five minutes, there was a knock at her door. She knew exactly who it was.

Victoria got up and opened the door, "What do you want Nathan?"

"How did you know it was me?" Nathan asked.

"Women's intuition," Victoria replied, "Are you going to try to take off my shirt? I assure you, you won't be able to touch me."

"I don't want to see your boobs. I want to apologize," Nathan said.

"Why now?" Victoria asked, "You have had years to say sorry. You've always ben leading the boys. Why stop now?"

"Because we both are going to die!" Nathan shouted, "I just want to clear the air before we got into the area."

"Why," Victoria asked, "so I won't kill you in the arena myself?"

"Well, it's just..." Nathan stammered, "I'm sorry."

Victoria looked at him blankly. "Get out."

In an hour, they arrived at the Capital. They were taken straight to their stylists. It didn't take long for them to clean the tributes up. Both of them were soon standing in front of a woman in nothing but a robe.

Nathan looked very uncomfortable. His milk chocolate brown had been cut, and it now framed his face. His electric blue eyes were full of fear. Victoria thought that his new look was kind of cute.

The woman in front of them was wearing an electric blue jumpsuit with high yellow heels and her hair was orange. Her face looked like plastic and was covered with yellow makeup.

"We got some fine tributes this year," she said, "Last years were better, but you'll do. Did either of you volunteer?" Victoria and Nathan stayed silent. Another stylist whispered into the woman's ear.

"Oh," she said, "that's right. You're the girl who told no one to volunteer. Well, I'm Tunisia your main stylist. We have a lot planned for your grand entrance. You are going to be in sparkling body suits!"

"What!" Victoria yelled, "That's pathetic."

"Ah she speaks," Tunisia said, "What is your name?"

"You should know that," Victoria snapped, "and anyway, sparkles are what District 1 or 12 would do. Our District is all about power and electricity. Sparkles aren't very powerful or intimidating."

"Then what do you think we should do Ms. Tori?" Tunisia asked.

"You can call me Victoria," Victoria snapped, "If I were the designer, I would put use in electric blue armor with a cape of sparks."

"We should do that next year," Tunisia whispered quietly to another stylist. "Anyway," she said, "We don't have time to do that. It's gross anyway."

"That's not what you were just whispering about," Victoria said, "It's really easy too. Get some armor and spray paint it electric blue. You guys are

professionals. There must be some way you people can make an electric cape. I refuse to wear anything but that."

"Me too," Nathan said.

"Well," Tunisia yelled, "You heard them! Let's get cracking we only have four hours!"

Victoria smiled. She had just earned this woman's respect

Their entrance was just as amazing as Victoria wanted. They were both dressed the same, and they wowed the crowd. No one could take their eyes off of them. Their outfits glowed. Tunisia wanted them to hold hands, but Victoria refused. Even in the small chariot, Victoria managed to stay as far away from Nathan as possible.

The two listened to the Gamemakers ramble on about what an honor it was to be in the Games. Victoria just kept rolling her eyes. When the two exited, the crowd was just as excited when they had entered.

* * *

Training started the next morning. Victoria quickly took notice of the other tributes as soon as she had entered.

There were Careers from Districts 1 through 4 as always.

The rest looked scrawny. District 12 had very young tributes. They looked starved. District 11's were older, but they couldn't fight. District 10 had a girl who looked eighteen and a boy who looked twelve. District 9 had two older tributes. They could fight, but they weren't very strong. District 8 had two middle-aged tributes that seemed to know what they were doing. District 7 had two thirteen year olds who looked terrified. District 6 had two older tributes. They looked strong and they knew how to shoot arrows. Victoria looked at her companion.

Nathan was strong, but he couldn't fight at all. His hope would have to be in running. Victoria really didn't want to train with Nathan, so she headed to the climbing station alone. She didn't put on a harness and scurried up the net in a matter of seconds.

The trainer was surprised, "I've never seen anyone do that that fast. Try the rock wall." Victoria slid down and moved to the rock wall. Again, she didn't put on a harness. She was at the top in forty-five seconds. She climbed down and went on to the rope. She jumped up and climbed to the top in record time.

There was a bell at the top, so she rang it. All eyes were suddenly on her.

"None of you will be able to catch me," she yelled, "and even if you did. You'd be the one who ended up dead!"

"I doubt that!" the boy from District 1 yelled. All of the Careers laughed and went back to training. Many of the other Districts looked terrified, especially Nathan. Victoria slid down the rope.

The trainer told her, "You seem very focused on the climb, but you have to remember that you aren't alone. You might have to climb away from other tributes, and they won't let you go so easily. Focus on the climb as well as your surrounds. Be observant and careful." Victoria thanked him and moved on.

Victoria went to archery where the tributes from District 6 were. Victoria had never held a bow in her life, and she didn't care to learn. She wanted to talk to the tributes.

"Do y'all want to form an alliance?" she asked, "You guys look tough, and we might be able to win if we team up." The tributes ignored her and kept shooting. Victoria gave up and decided she would be a lone wolf.

The tributes kept training for a week. Victoria learned that she could be deadly with knives and swords. Well, she was deadly with any weapon. Victoria cut up the dummies with swords easily. She tossed knives perfectly with ease. Victoria started lifting weights to make her stronger. She could bench press two hundred pounds. She could throw about one hundred pounds a good fifty feet. She beat every trainer in every kind of combat except to hand to hand combat. Every night she practiced with her fists alone. She knew that the other tributes were starting to take notice of her. District 6 even said they would join her. Victoria declined proudly and told them that they had lost their chance.

Every night Nathan would try to confront Victoria. Victoria always slipped away. Nathan would always end up swearing as he went back to his room.

During lunch, Victoria always ate alone. The day before the tributes would demonstrate their skills to the Gamemakers, the Careers sat down next to her at lunch. She ignored them, even when they started talking to her.

"You're pretty strong," said the girl from 2, "for someone from District 5."

"The 5 boy is as weak as a 12," the boy from 3 said.

"Join us and you could win," the boy from 1 offered, "We could use you."

Victoria smiled, "I knew you'd ask." The Careers laughed.

"But," Victoria said, "the answer is no."

"What?" the boy from 4 asked.

"No," Victoria said, "I don't want to join you. I fight alone."

"You're making a big mistake," the boy from 1 said.

"No," Victoria replied, "I'm not. Go away. Oh, wait there's something I have to do." Victoria stood up on the table. Everyone was looking at her. "I was just offered to join the Careers!" she yelled, "But I said no because I'm going to kill them all myself."

Victoria walked on the table over to Nathan. "See this boy? He's mine! He's done horrible things to me my entire life! And now he's going to suffer," Victoria shouted, "If any of you, get to him before me! I will kill you myself. That's all!" Victoria jumped down and whispered to Nathan, "You're dead boy. So, in the arena, you better run. This time it's your turn."


	3. Preparing for Death

The next day, the tributes had to perform in front of the Gamemakers. When it was Victoria's turn, she went in quickly.

Victoria said, "Hello! Today, I will blow your mind." A couple of the Gamemakers chuckled. First Victoria climbed up and down everything in the room. Then, she threw knives, swords, axes, and weights perfectly. Victoria did some acrobatics. She flipped and jumped all around. Victoria then scaled the wall of the training room and disappeared. She was as quiet as a mouse as she traveled through the rafters. She could hear people freaking out.

"Where is she? How could she have climbed that wall? It's flat and smooth!" one of them screamed. Victoria smiled. She had coated her shoes with some sticky glue before she came in. Victoria stopped in the rafters. She listened and heard a hum. They were scanning for her.

Victoria removed a ceiling panel and looked down. She was directly above the Gamemakers. She looked for a wall. It was twenty feet away. The hum was getting louder. Victoria thought fast. She saw that there were bars on the ceiling.

She jumped to the nearest one. She swung back and forth and jumped to the next bar. She kept going. There was one bar between her and the wall. Victoria noticed that there was a leak dripping on the bar. Victoria swung back and jumped. She grabbed the bar with two hands and one of her hands slipped.

Victoria was clinging to the bar with one hand. She pulled herself back up and jumped onto the wall. She climbed down silently. Victoria hid behind one of the chairs. When everyone's back was turned, she stepped out.

"Hello everyone!" she said cheerfully. A few of the Gamemakers screamed. "Can I go now?" She asked. No one answered. "Whatever," she said, "Goodbye." Victoria jumped over the ledge that the Gamemakers were in and walked out with her head high.

Victoria and Nathan waited for their scores. The people before them scored seven to ten. Nathan's face popped up. He scored an eight. Victoria was surprised. Then her face popped up. She scored a twelve. She smirked.

* * *

The next day all of the tributes had to appear live on television and be interviewed. Tunisia called Victoria and Nathan back to her lair. They again stood before her in only robes.

"Okay," Tunisia said, "We have your costumes ready and we aren't changing anything." Victoria smirked. "Tori, you come with me, and Nathan, you go with my assistant." Tunisia led Victoria to a room. She handed her some undergarments that were yellow. Victoria slipped them on and dropped the robe.

"So, what do you have for me?" Victoria asked.

"Check it out!" Tunisia squealed. Tunisia held up a yellow dress with blue diamonds and electric sparks.

"Oh, Tunisia," Victoria said, "That is so much better than your first idea. Give it to me!" Tunisia handed Victoria the dress. Victoria slipped it on and looked at her reflection. The dress showed her curves.

"Sit!" Tunisia ordered. Victoria sat down. Tunisia started straightening her messy hair. It took a while, but eventually Victoria's black hair was straightened. Her green eyes sparkled. Tunisia led Victoria out to meet Nathan. He was in an electric blue suit with two light bulb buttons and a light bulb hat. He glowed. Victoria giggled. Nathan looked somewhat ridiculous but still handsome.

"You look beautiful," Nathan said. Victoria nodded her head. Tunisia led them to a waiting room.

The two watched as Districts 1 through 4 all went on. When the boy from 4 was done, Victoria made her way across the stage. The man doing the interview announced his name, but Victoria didn't catch it.

The man asked, "Victoria Thorn! How on earth did you get that high score?"

Victoria smiled and said, "I'm full of surprises."

"I'm sure," the man said, "But getting a twelve isn't something that happens very often. I'm sure you did something spectacular! Or my name isn't Caesar Flickerman." Just then Victoria took notice of Caesar. Like every year, he appearance was the same expect for his hair and suit. This year he chose purple.

"Well Caesar," Victoria said, "It's very simple. I just blew their minds. I did something that was never seen before, and I did it perfectly. I don't think anybody else could have done or will do what I did in that room."

"Can you give us anything else?" Caesar asked.

"Think of me like a storm. Like lightening, you'll see me then I'll disappear," Victoria said, "Then like thunder, I'll appear out of nowhere and strike."

"That's great," Caesar said, "So Victoria, what are your plans for the games."

"That's for me to know and the world to find out," Victoria replied.

"Ooo you are a feisty one," Caesar said, "Why did you tell know one to volunteer at the Reaping? Surly a girl like yourself didn't have to come."

"It was a personal matter," she replied, "I plan to do things in the games that have never been done before."

"I see," Caesar said, "Are there any guys back home?"

"Well," Victoria said, "There are five, but by the end of the games, there will be only one."

"What?" Caesar started. Then the bell went off. "Well," Caesar said, "That's all the time we have with Victoria. Let's move on to the next tribute!"

Victoria rushed off the stage. She passed by Nathan who was making his way to the stage. They brushed shoulders, but Victoria didn't give him another glance. Nathan sat in the chair and Caesar started talking. Victoria didn't care what Nathan was being asked about, but she had to listen anyway. Caesar asked Nathan about his strategy for the Games and if there was any special girls in his life. Nathan didn't have a plan for the Games, but he replied quickly to the second question.

"Well," Nathan said, "There's a girl who I've known for a long time, but I know she doesn't like me." Victoria rolled her eyes. She knew that Nathan was trying to get under her skin. But deep down, she thought that Nathan was kind of cute. She couldn't help it.

"Well," Caesar said, "She might like you if you come back."

"I doubt it," Victoria yelled. Caesar looked confused, and Nathan blushed. Then the bell rang.

"Um," Caesar stuttered, "Let's go on with the tributes from District 6!" Nathan walked off the stage quickly. He grabbed Victoria's wrist.

"Why would you do that?" he asked.

"To make your lifer miserable," she replied.

"Isn't my life miserable enough already?" Nathan asked.

Victoria leaned in and kissed him.

"No," she said as she pulled away. She smirked as she walked away.


	4. Starting to Die

The day had finally come. The Games were about to begin. Victoria was ready to win. All of the tributes were dressed in jeans, short-sleeved grey shirts, and wore combat boots on their feet.

The week prior, Nathan has always tried to corner Victoria to talk about what had happened. Victoria ignored him as always and ran. Nathan tried once more before they separated, but he was unsuccessful.

Now Victoria stood with twenty-three other tributes at the Cornucopia. Victoria looked around at her surroundings. She smiled. The arena was an abandoned city. It suited her just fine. There were bags scattered all around the Cornucopia. Victoria looked for a weapon. A knife, sword, or hammer would do just fine. She found what she was looking for. There was a knife at the edge of the Cornucopia it was only ten feet away. Victoria spotted all of the big weapons in middle of the Cornucopia. _It is too risk_ she thought. Victoria decided to go for the items at the edge of the Cornucopia. Victoria had it all planned out.

She saw Nathan trying to get her attention. She looked at him. He pointed to a building but mouthed _opposite. _Victoria knew what he wanted. She smiled.

Just then, a canon sounded. Victoria sprinted to the edge of the Cornucopia. She grabbed the knife and kept running. She went for a blue sling bag that looked heavy. Another tribute was running toward it too, but Victoria got there first. It was as heavy as it looked. Using the knife, she cut the other tribute's arm. He hollered, but Victoria kept running.

She ran in between buildings. She didn't stop running until she was sure she wasn't being followed. Victoria ducked into one of the buildings. She slipped her knife into her boot. There was just enough light for her to see. She looked into the sling bag.

Victoria's first reaction was a laugh. There were eight rocks in the bag. That explained the weight. She took them out one by one. There was still more stuff in the bag. Victoria had another knife, rope, a blanket, water, sunglasses, and a baseball cap. Victoria packed it all up, but she put on the baseball cap.

Suddenly there was light, and Victoria saw what was in the building. The baseball cap had a light that activated when the cap was worn.

In the building, there were all sorts of mutated creatures sleeping. Some of them were big, and some were small, but they all looked deadly. She took of the cap. Victoria knelt down and put the rocks back in the bag. She walked out quietly.

Victoria was out of the building, but there was someone behind her.

"Well, well," a boy's voice said, "What do we have here?" Victoria turned around. It was the boy from District 3. He didn't look strong, but he was holding a sword in his hand.

"Where are the rest of your playmates?" Victoria asked.

"They decided to sit this one out but don't worry, they are near-by," he said.

"Wonderful."

The boy swung the sword. Victoria ducked and rolled. She grabbed the knife in her boot and was back on her feet. Victoria knew that tributes from District 3 aren't the strongest, but they are smart. The boy lifted the sword with difficulty. He swung the sword again. Victoria jumped out of the way. The boy was breathing heavily. Victoria stepped towards him. He swung the sword at her feet, but she stepped on it.

"What?"

"You aren't very strong," Victoria said, "but I know that you are smart enough to walk away now."

"Think again!" he yelled. The boy threw what looked like a grenade. It landed at her feet. Victoria bent down and picked it up.

"How much do you know about weapons?" she asked, "You forgot to remove the pin. It won't activate unless you do." Victoria removed the pin and threw the grenade at the boy. He yelped and started running. Victoria climbed up the wall of a jagged building. The grenade exploded. It didn't catch the boy, but it did what Victoria wanted it to do. The doorway to the building she was just in was covered in ruble.

Victoria made her way back to the Cornucopia by roof. She was able to avoid fighting with the other tributes, but she could see almost everything. Victoria entered the house that Nathan had wanted to meet earlier.

"So what up?" Nathan asked as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Up?" Victoria asked, "Nothing's up."

"You are completely confusing me," Nathan said.

"That's not my fault."

"Yes it is!"

"Well, what do you expect?" Victoria asked.

"I expect you to be like other girls," Nathan complained, "I can't tell whether you like me or not."

"I don't like you," Victoria said.

"Then why did you kiss me?"

"To confuse you."

"What? Why?"

"Oh, Nathan," Victoria said, "You've been a pain in my backside for as long as I can remember. You were the one who started it, and I am going to be the one who ends it. Look at where we are. We are in an empty city. I was hoping for a forest, but this place is perfect. I've been running from you and your boys my entire life. Now, it's your turn. Run. Run away Nathan. And don't die just yet. The clock starts now. You better run boy."

Nathan took off sprinting. Victoria laughed. She would get her revenge. Just like she had against the other three boys.


	5. Dying Alone

_**All of the italic is Victoria thinking. Bold is emphasis.**_

* * *

Victoria slept in the building that night. She locked the doors and windows that she could lay low. The building she was in was like a house. It had two stories. It had a kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms. She settled into one of the upstairs bedrooms, but slept on the floor. She could hear the screams of the other tributes. There wasn't a shred of doubt in her mind that it was the mutations she had seen earlier.

Her plan had gone well with Nathan. He was on the run. Now he was the prey. Her kiss had confused him, and Victoria hoped that Nathan still thought that she loved him. Like that would ever happen.

Victoria dreamt that night. It wasn't really a dream, but a memory. She was just learning to fight with the hobo. She couldn't land a single blow.

"You need to become strong," he said as Victoria was doing push-ups.

"I can do this by myself," she replied, "I've already started to lift weights. Why do I need to do this?"

"Because you need to learn that hard work brings great rewards," the hobo said, "You need to be doing fifty push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, and twenty-five pull-ups every night."

"That's a lot of work!"

"Do it and you will grow strong. You will be able to learn. If you don't do them, I will know."

Victoria did do the work. She got stronger.

The dream jumped to a couple months later. Victoria was punching a punching bag. The hobo was instructing her.

"Left! Right! Right! Right! Left! Kick Right! Right! Kick Right! Knee! Kick Left! Right!"

"I'm punching a bag! It doesn't fight back!" Victoria yelled.

"Do you think you're ready to fight me?" the hobo asked.

"Yes," Victoria said, "I took down the five with ease. I think I can handle you."

"Ok," he said, "Brace yourself." With a swift movement, Victoria was on her back.

"What? How did you?"

"Years of practice," he said.

The dream skipped forward again.

Victoria punched the bag off the ceiling with one punch.

"Good job," the hobo said, "You can fight with your fists."

"Is there anything else you can teach me?" Victoria asked.

"Yes," he replied, "but first, you must take me down."

"Ok," Victoria said, "Brace yourself."

Victoria charged towards the hobo. He ducked. Victoria swung her fists, but the hobo dodged every one. The two were standing about five feet apart. Victoria jumped forward and kicked him in the face. He was still standing. They were now two feet apart. Victoria lifted her leg and kneed him in the balls. The hobo let out a groan of pain, but he was still standing. Victoria hit him square in the jaw. He fell to his knees.

"Good job," he said, "You won."

"It wasn't a fair fight," Victoria said, "You didn't fight back."

"I did," he said, "You just didn't realize it. You dodged every one of my attacks."

"But, you didn't punch or kick," Victoria said.

"I did," he argued, "Your eyes just didn't see, because you were focused on winning. You have mastered your fists. Time for you to master knifes."

Once again the dream jumped ahead. "Remember," the hobo said, "with knives you want to aim for the wrists, stomach, ankles, chest, and neck."

"What's the good of knowing that if I can't even throw it right?" Victoria asked.

"It takes practice," the hobo said. He picked up a knife and threw it in the chest of a dummy.

"How long have you been practicing?" she asked.

"Years," he replied.

"Where did you learn?"

"From my father."

"Where you in the Games?"

He frowned, "No, my older brother volunteered for me when they called my name. He died in the first five minutes."

"I'm sorry." Victoria picked up a knife and threw it in the dummy's neck.

The dream turned into a nightmare. There were tributes surrounding her, but they weren't tributes. They were the five.

* * *

Victoria woke up almost screaming. It was just a dream. Just a dream. Victoria heard noises from downstairs. It was still dark out.

"What are those things Nikel?" a boy's voice asked.

"I don't know! Monsters probably. I can't believe they got Atella. She was tough." another boy replied probably Nikel. _Atella was the girl from 4_, Victoria thought.

"Rafael is dead too," a girl said. _That was the boy from 3_. "He broke his neck being thrown by an explosion, remember? We could have helped him, but you were too busy killing everyone at the Cornucopia! We don't even know if this place is safe!" _Ah_, Victoria thought, _that's what happened to him. Good riddance._

"Don't worry Sabrina," Nikel said, "We **should** be safe in here." _No you won't_, Victoria thought.

"Nikel and Sabrina," Victoria whispered to herself, "are from District 1! How could I be so stupid? The rest are probably with them. Wait, there's only six." Victoria pondered over a plan. If she could kill them off one by one and make it look like an accident, then she could get them all. Victoria had no doubt that the house was booby-trapped.

She ran into a bathroom and turned on the facet in the tub on low. Clear liquid came out. Victoria touched it with her hand. It felt like water. Her hand started to burn. She pulled it back. The water was poisoned. She put the facet on high and sprinted out of the bathroom back to the room. She closed the door and hid behind it.

"Do you hear that?" a girl asked.

"What?" Sabrina replied.

"I hear it too!" a boy said.

"Quiet!" Nikel said. The only noise was the water running. The Careers rushed upstairs to the bathroom.

"Someone is here," another girl said.

"Well obliviously Betha," a girl said.

"Don't snap at me Poppy!" Betha replied. The two girls started arguing. _Poppy was from 3 and Betha from 2_.

"Ladies, no need to fight," a boy said.

The girls turned to him and said in unison, "Shut up Alonso!" _Alonso was from 4._

"Everyone! Quiet!" a boy said, "If we are too loud, than the person here might hear us."

"Who put you in charge Zeth?" Betha asked. _Zeth was from 2_.

"He's right," Nikel said, "We need to be quiet." Victoria moved around in her hiding place.

"Ok," Nikel whispered, "Poppy and Zeth stay here. Betha, Sabrina, Alonso, and I will go look around." The Careers split up. "Betha, you go look in there. Sabrina, go look over there. Alonso and I will look downstairs." Nikel said.

Victoria heard the boys go downstairs. Footsteps were going away from her. Then another pair was getting louder. Victoria pressed against the wall.

Someone opened the door. It was inches from Victoria. Betha peeked into the room. There were blankets on the floor, but Betha focused on the bed. "Now I could use a rest." Betha walked over to the bed and laid down. The bed was facing away from the door.

Victoria slowly closed the door. She grabbed the knife from her boot. She crept up to the bed. Betha's eyes were closed. Victoria covered her mouth. Betha's eyes flew open. She was about to scream, but Victoria slit her throat. Betha's eyes rolled. She was dead.

Victoria laid Betha on the bed.

"My first kill," she whispered, "Well, not technically." Victoria looked around the room. She had to make this look like an accident. Something caught Victoria's eye. There was a hole in the wall. The hole was lined up perfectly with the pillow. Another hole was on the opposite side. Victoria looked in one of the holes. There was a sharp blade. She heard a hissing noise and ducked. A blade came out of the hole, slit Betha's throat again, and went into the other hole. Victoria had an idea. She went to the hole and reached in. She grabbed the blade and pulled it out. The blade wasn't all the way in the hole. The other tributes would see it now.

"Betha?" Sabrina yelled. Victoria grabbed her knife. She dropped it and winced in pain. She looked at her hand. The blade had left incisions. A curse word formed on Victoria's lips.

"Betha!" Sabrina yelled again. Victoria could hear her footsteps. She grabbed her knife and ran out of the room and into the one next door. She hid in the closet, but she could hear everything.

Sabrina walked into the bedroom Betha was told to look. She screamed. Feet made noises as they raced up the stairs. The people in the bathroom were by her side in five seconds flat. All the Careers were looking at Betha. A cannon sounded in the distance.

"Who could have done it?" Poppy asked.

"I don't know," said Nikel.

"Could it have been another tribute?" Alonso asked.

"I don't think so," Zeth said, "Look." Victoria presumed that they had found the blade.

"Oh my GOD!" Sabrina squeaked, "This house is a death trap!"

"Wait," Nikel said, "There is blood on the bed. Not anywhere near Betha. Could it be possible that a tribute made it look like this?"

"Maybe," Zeth said, "if they did, then the tribute is probably still here." Victoria smiled.

And," Alonso continued, "They could be listening to everything we're saying." That shut everyone up.

"Okay," Nikel said breaking the silence, "Keep to the plan." The Careers dispersed, going back to where they were except Poppy and Zeth looked around upstairs too.

Victoria stayed in her closet. She heard footsteps coming towards her. She grabbed her knife. The door opened.

"Well, well, well," Zeth said, "What do we have here?" Victoria stabbed him in the chest. "Guys!" Zeth yelled through his teeth, "I found-" Victoria ducked.

A spear came out of the wall and stabbed him in the stomach. A cannon shot was heard. Everyone rushed upstairs. They found Zeth in a closet. The spear was still in his body. He was in there alone.

"Oh my god!" Poppy yelled, "He's dead! We are all going to die!"

"Would you be quiet?" Alonso yelled.

"We need to get out of here!" Sabrina yelled.

"Wait!" Nikel said, "Zeth was stabbed before the spear. Look! There's a hole in his chest. I wonder what he found."

"I don't care I want to get out of here!" Poppy said.

Suddenly, there was a noise from the bathroom. Someone had turned on the facet. The quartet rushed to the bathroom. On the counter, there was four glasses of water.

"There is someone here!" Poppy cried.

"No duh!" Alonso said. Alonso walked towards the water.

"Don't do anything stupid!" Nikel said. Alonso glared at him.

Alonso picked up one of the glasses. He screamed and fell to the floor, spilling the water. Poppy screamed. There was faint laughter. Alonso started laughing, "Got you!"

"Don't do that!" Poppy yelled angrily. She started walking out of the bathroom. Poppy made her way to the stairs. She grunted and collapsed. Poppy tumbled down the stairs. A hand reached out towards her neck, unseen by the other Careers.

"Poppy!" Sabrina yelled. She started to descend down the stairs, but she tripped and tumbled. "Sabrina!" the other boys yelled. They stairs. Nikel helped her up.

"Are you all right?" he asked. Sabrina nodded. The remaining Careers looked at Poppy. Even without checking, they knew she was dead. The cannon went off.

* * *

Victoria smirked. She found a dart-gun in the wall and tore it out. Victoria had killed Poppy with it and removed the evidence, now she was hiding in the downstairs bathroom. She was only a few feet away from the other Careers. Victoria had set up a trail of false clues that would hopefully end up killing one of the Careers or severely injuring one of them. Victoria still couldn't believe that she pulled it off in a matter of minutes, but she did.

The Careers' voices got fainter and fainter. Victoria turned the doorknob. The door didn't open. _Crap!_ She thought, _I will not die like this! _

Gas started coming in through the vents. "Wait," Victoria said while holding her breath, "Wouldn't it be more interesting if I killed the rest of the Careers off one by one?" The gas stopped. The mirror in the bathroom flickered. Victoria walked towards it. A man appeared in it.

"Give us a good reason why we shouldn't kill you!" he boomed.

"Because the point of the Games is for the **tributes** to kill each other," Victoria said, "Not booby-trapped houses or mutant monsters. People don't want to see things killing people. They want to see people killing people."

The bathroom door swung open. Victoria ran out. She grabbed her bag, went straight to the door, and ran out of the house. Victoria kept running. She ran back to the Cornucopia and climbed onto the roof of a nearby building. She didn't know who was left, but she didn't care. She wanted out.


	6. Death All Around

A man's voice boomed throughout the arena, "Congratulations to the remaining tributes alive. It has only been a week and there are fifteen tributes left. Your pictures will be shown in a minute, but first I would like to make an announcement. In two days, supplies and weapons will be deposited at the baseball stadium. You will have to find it yourself, but be on the look out. Once again congratulations and may the odds be ever in your favor."

* * *

"There's a stadium?" Victoria asked no one in particular. She had camped out on the roof. No one ever bothered her.

There was movement down below. Two tributes were running. A giant mutant followed them. It had giant black horns on its head. It looked like a giant ape, but it had blue scales, a furry tail, red claws, and super big yellow teeth, along with fangs. Victoria looked at the tributes. There were arrow quivers on their backs. She groaned. The tributes were from 6.

Victoria looked around for anything. On the ground there was a grenade, but it wouldn't kill the beast. The two tributes were shooting arrows at the beast. It only slowed it down. All of a sudden, something fell on Victoria's head."Ow," she said. It was a silver package. It was huge. Victoria opened it quickly, inside was a sword. "How did you get that past security?" Victoria wondered aloud. There was a card. It read, "_Please don't let them die_." Victoria groaned again.

She pulled a rock out of her bag and threw it at the beast. "Hey ugly!" she yelled, "Come on up and get dinner!" The beast looked up. It ran towards the building and started climbing. "Crap!" Victoria yelled, "Aim for the eyes." Victoria threw all the rocks she had at the beast. One landed in its eye socket.

Victoria leapt to another roof. She started climbing down. Arrows were flying towards her. She easily dodged them yelling, "Is this really the time? Aim for the beast not me! Or both of you will be dead." Victoria reached the ground. The beast looked around on the roof. "Down here ugly!"

It jumped down. Victoria backed up to the center. She was standing face to face with the beast. An arrow flew into its neck. "Idiot! Why would you do that?" Victoria cried. The beast charged for the boy from 6. "Conner!" the 6 girl yelled. It picked him up and bit off his head. A cannon sounded.

"Back over here ugly!" Victoria yelled. The beast threw the boy's body aside and spit out his head. The girl started to draw back her bow. "Don't!" Victoria yelled. The girl stopped. The beast charged. Victoria pulled out the sword. She swung. The beast roared in pain. Its left hand was on the ground. It charged again. Victoria rolled to the left, but the beast used its hand to grab her by the hair. She dropped the sword.

"I was hoping you were left-handed," Victoria said. She pulled a knife out of her boot and cut of the end of her hair. "I love my hair," Victoria yelled as she fell to the ground and rolled to the sword. Trimmings of her black hair were scattered all around her and the feet of the beast. She jumped up and charged. She ran straight for its head. She lifted the sword and swung. She landed on her feet with her back to the beast. Its head rolled off its body. Just for good measure, Victoria stabbed it in the heart. Its body shook and turned to dust.

The girl was sitting next to the boy's body. "Sorry," Victoria said. Light came from above. The tributes faces were shown.

**Alive Tributes:**

**Nikel and Sabrina- District 1**

**Alonso- District 4**

**Nathan and Victoria- District 5**

**Lyn- District 6**

**Iris- District 7**

**Rory and Sam- District 8**

**Joey- District 9**

**Ross and Janna- District 10**

**Adelia- District 11**

**Leonard- District 12**

When Victoria looked back at Lyn, she was gone. "You're welcome!" she shouted.

* * *

Victoria climbed up the tallest tower she could find. The arena seemed to go on forever, but she did find the stadium. It looked miles away. Even from the tower, it looked huge. Victoria climbed down and started walking towards a building. She climbed up to the roof and traveled. She went on for what seemed hours. When night started to fall, she put on her cap and continued.

She was about halfway to the stadium, when she saw a group of tributes sleeping on the ground. A shadow was approaching them. Victoria took off the cap and put on the sunglasses. She pushed a button on the side. The world became green and she could see. The tributes looked young. There were four of them. Victoria climbed down the building. The creature was creeping closer and closer to the tributes. It was a giant lizard, but instead of scales, there was fur. Victoria climbed up the building again. She moved right where the lizard was approaching. It was right next to a girl.

The lizard moved forward. Victoria dropped down behind the lizard. She raised the sword and stabbed it. The lizard hissed and bit the girl's right arm. She woke up screaming. The other tributes woke. The lizard turned to dust. They all screamed.

Victoria took of the glasses and put on the cap. "Shut it!" she said, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just saved all of your lives. You need to get to higher ground. The mutants can find you way too easily on the ground. Pick up your stuff and follow me." Victoria waited for the tributes to grab their stuff. She took them to a fire escape. "Climb," she said. She started going when she noticed no one else was following her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"We can't see," a boy replied.

"And the stuff is too heavy," a girl said.

"Give me your stuff," Victoria said. She climbed down and took their supplies. She titled her head up and said, "Climb." One by one the tributes made their way to the top.

"Sleep," Victoria said, "I'll keep watch."

"How do we know you won't kill us?" a boy asked.

"That's better than being here isn't it?" Victoria asked. The boy shrugged and went to sleep. Victoria made her way to the center to the group. She lined up the supplies around the group. She took off the cap and went to sleep.

Victoria woke up the next mourning by a scream. She instinctively reached for her sword, but it wasn't there. She grabbed her knife instead and jumped up. She looked around for a monster, but she saw nothing. She looked down. The other tributes were surrounding the girl who was bit. Her arm was black.

Now that it was day, Victoria could see their faces more clearly. The tributes from 10, the girl from 11, and the boy from 12 were here. Victoria made her way to the girl.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"We don't know," a boy said.

"First," Victoria said, "I need to know your names." Victoria pointed to the girl with the black arm. "She's Janna from 10." She pointed to the boy kneeling next to her. "You're Ross from 10." Victoria pointed to the other girl, "Adelia from 11." Victoria pointed to the other boy, "Leonard from 12." They all nodded.

"Now that that's done," Victoria said, "I need to look Janna's arm." Victoria knelt down to the girl. Janna's hand, wrist, and arm under the elbow were black.

"This is bad," Victoria said, "that lizard was venomous. You will die unless we cut off your arm. If I had the supplies I could treat it, but I don't." A boy started talking, but Victoria cut him off. "Even if it was in the stadium, we couldn't get there and back in time. Choose your arm or your life. You're choice."

Janna looked down at her arm, "Cut it off."

Victoria looked around, "Do you guys have any pills or rocks? It is going to hurt really bad." Leonard went to a bag and pulled out a few bottles. Victoria looked them over, "None of these will do. All of these will kill someone."

"Janna," Victoria said. "Yeah?" Victoria punched her in the face. The other tributes screamed, "Why would you do that?"

"Hold her down," Victoria said as putting a shirt in Janna's mouth. Victoria picked up her sword. She sharpened it on a rock. Victoria punched Janna again and raised the sword over her arm.

"I'm so sorry," Victoria said as she brought the sword down.

* * *

Janna was unconscious the rest of the day. Her arm had come off in one swing. Victoria had wrapped it in cloth. Victoria knew something the other tributes didn't. Janna wasn't going to survive. When her arm came off, the inside was as black as the outside. Victoria cut it a little above the black, but even of she cut off her whole arm it wouldn't matter. The black venom wasn't just in her upper arm; it was in her bloodstream. She would be dead in a few hours, unless she could get medicine.

The tributes kept going towards the stadium. They traveled on the rooftops, avoiding many tributes. Victoria carried Janna. When the group arrived at the stadium, the man's voice boomed again, "I'm so glad that everyone could join us. The gates will open in one hour."

"Or we could just climb over," Victoria suggested. She turned to the tributes. "Stay here," she said, "I'll check it out. Don't make yourselves noticeable. I'm going to leave my sword. Only use it if you have too. Watch over Janna." Victoria climbed down the building.

"How do we know she won't tell where we are to someone else?" Adelia asked.

"She got us this far didn't she?" replied Leonard.

"I trust her," Ross said.

"That's because you have a crush," Adelia teased.

Ross blushed, "I do not!"

"It's so obvious," Adelia teased.

"I do not!" Ross yelled, "Oops."

"Good going dude," Leonard said, "everyone would have heard that. We have to move."

"We can't," Adelia said motioning to Janna, "she is still unconscious." All the time that the group was arguing, two tributes were sneaking up on them. The group only noticed them when it was too late. Adelia grabbed the sword.

"Well Sam," the older boy said, "What do we have here?"

"It seems that we have three weaklings trying to save their buddy," Sam said, "Let's do this Rory." The girl and boy charged with weapons raised.

The boys scrambled while Adelia raised the sword to defend herself. "I got the boys," Sam said. She ran towards the boys. "You're both dead!" Sam yelled. She had Leonard cornered. Sam raised her sword. She was about to end Leonard's life, when she heard Rory yell. She turned around and saw Victoria standing over Rory's corpse. A knife was in his heart. There was rage in her eyes.

"Give me the sword Adelia," Victoria said. Adelia handed it to her. Victoria grabbed it and charged. A cannon sounded as Victoria reached Sam. Their swords clanged.

Victoria shouted, "I" _CLANG! _"Hate it" _CLANG!_ "When" _CLANG!_ "Take" _CLANG!_ "Advantage" _CLANG!_ "Of Defenseless" _CLANG!_ "KIDS" _**CLANG**_!

Sam's sword was out of reach. Victoria thrust her sword into Sam's chest. Sam grunted. Victoria withdrew her sword and thrust it into the girl's stomach. A cannon sounded.

"_**CRAP!**_" someone yelled. It sounded distance. Victoria smirked. She knew it was Nathan.

"How did you know?" Ross asked.

"I was climbing up the stadium, when I noticed smoke coming from the entrance. The Careers, boy from 5(Nathan), girl from 6(Lyn), girl from 7(Iris), and the two from 8(Rory and Sam) are camped there. Well not 8 anymore. I heard Ross yell. The two from 8 said they would take care of it. No one counted on me being with y'all."

"Luck for us," Leonard said.

"Would you have saved us if you weren't with us?" Adelia asked.

"It depends," Victoria said, "If I wasn't with y'all, you would be dead because of the lizard. Even if y'all survived it, I might have. Though I probably would. It depends. No. Maybe. Probably. Probably not."

"That makes absolutely no sense," the three said in unison. Victoria just smiled.

The group moved to the other side of the stadium. Victoria again started climbing up the stadium walls.

It was tricky, but she made it. When Victoria went over the top of the stadium, she gasped. Giant piles all kinds of weapons were stacked. There was food and water. The smallest pile was off in a corner. It was made of entirely bags. The stadium was huge. Victoria quickly made it to the end of the seats. She climbed over the railing and onto another level. She eventually made it to the last level. If she moved down again, she would be on the field.

She looked under the railing. Her face was full of terror. All along the bottom of the stadium were cages. They were full of mutants. Victoria stayed on the last level. She heard a noise.

Iris (7) had the same idea. She also climbed over the wall, but she went all the way down to the field. Iris jumped down. "Stop!" Victoria said, "It's a trap!" Iris rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Like I would listen to you," she teased. Iris made her way to the food pile. She grabbed an apple and took a bite. Iris gobbled up the apple in seconds. She tossed the core. It landed in the field. In a few seconds, there was an explosion.

Iris was standing as still as a statue. "Told you!" Victoria yelled.

"Five more minutes!" the man's voice boomed.

Victoria saw someone else creeping down the levels. It was the boy from 9, Joey. He was about to go on the field. "Don't!" Victoria yelled. "Listen to her!" Iris followed. Joey stopped and looked up at Victoria, "Why not?"

"The field is full of mutants, and it's mined. Iris was lucky. You might not be," Victoria replied, "I think we can get the stuff a different way, but we don't have long."

"What about me?" Iris yelled.

"I warned you! You didn't listen," Victoria yelled.

"Please!" Iris yelled.

"Fine!" Victoria replied, "Are you going to help Joey?"

"No," he said, "She killed Rebekah, my partner."

"Well, you can do whatever you want with her when I rescue her," Victoria said, "I won't stop you."

"Then I'll stay down here!" Iris yelled.

"Well," Victoria said, "with him you have a chance. The mutants will eat you alive."

"I thought you killed a giant one!" Iris said, "Why don't you just do it again?"

"Because District 6 sent me a sword and a note," Victoria said, "Unless your District sends me that in the next few minutes, you will be gobbled up." Iris pouted, "Hurry up!" Victoria reached in her bag. She pulled out the rope.

Victoria tied one end around her waist. She handed the other to Joey. "Don't let me go. I saved your life. I know it's the Games, but if you let me go, I'll climb back up and fed you to the mutants. Got it?" Joey nodded. "If the door opens, pull me up with or without Iris." He nodded again. Joey tied the other end around the railing and grabbed it.

Victoria jumped over the railing. She climbed down slowly. A claw reached out towards her. She kicked it away. She reached the ground. She started walking towards Iris, but stopped at the pile of bags first. "Put as much as you can in this bag!" Victoria threw the bag to Iris. She grabbed another for herself. Iris filled hers up quickly.

Victoria was a few feet from the pile. She couldn't go any farther. "Hand me that bag and fill this one up. Don't drop it!" The two girls switched bags.

"There is stuff in this," Iris said.

"Just put food on top of it. Grab a few water bottles too!" In a few seconds, the bag was full. "Okay," Victoria said, "Give me the bag." Iris handed her the bag. "I can't go any farther," Victoria said, "Come to me." Iris took a step forward. There was a click. Both girls' eyes widened. Victoria put the bags around her shoulders and extended her hand. Iris grabbed it. "Run!" Victoria yelled. The girls took off towards the wall. There was a giant explosion.

"Only one more minute!" the man's voice boomed.

"Hurry!" Victoria yelled, "Climb! Joey, pull us up!"

"Too heavy!"

Victoria tied the rope around Iris. "Pull her up!" Joey didn't question it. Victoria started climbing. The supplies were slowing her down, but Victoria kept climbing. She dodged the mutants' claws, paws, and talons. Victoria was at a point where she couldn't climb any farther. "I need the rope!" It descended down. Victoria grabbed it. "Pull me up!" She wasn't moving. Victoria started climbing. She heard grunts above. Victoria climbed faster. She heard the creaking of metal. Victoria was almost at the rail.

The smaller mutants were out. Victoria made it over just as all of the gates opened. Smaller mutants were starting to climb. Victoria cut the rope. She stood up and walked to where Iris and Joey were fighting.

"You two can kill each other later!" she yelled, "Come on. Let's go gather what we can." She handed one of her bags to Joey and the other to Iris. They walked to the pile of weapons. Even though they were on the level, the pile reached over their heads.

"Grab your weapon of choice," Victoria said, "but if you start to fight, I'll throw both of you over." Joey grabbed a sword. Iris grabbed an axe. Victoria took a bow, arrows, knives, a slingshot, and a sword. The two looked at her. "I like to be prepared. Grab as many bows and arrows as you can and get lots of rope." The two obeyed.

The trio climbed to the highest point on the stadium. Victoria looked down below. The mutants had set off most of the mines. Only the big ones were left.

"Ok," Victoria said, "You two stay here and don't do anything stupid." Victoria grabbed the rope and one of the bags. She climbed down the building and returned to her group.

"Where have you been?" Adelia asked.

"We need help," Leonard said, "Janna woke up, but something's wrong." Victoria went straight to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked. But Victoria didn't need to. Janna was shivering. Black splotches were all over her. "I don't know if there is anything I can do," Victoria said, "I brought food." Victoria took it all out. At the bottom of the bag, was medicine.

By luck, Victoria had picked up the bag. Victoria laughed at her good fortune. "There might be something I can do," she said. Victoria carefully took it out. There were pills, bottles, and shots. Underneath it all, was a note. Victoria picked it up and read it.

_If you mix the ingredients right, you can heal any injury or any poison. Do it carefully Victoria._

Underneath that, the instructions were written. Victoria carefully put the supplies in order. Victoria grabbed a bowl and started. She mixed the green and blue bottles. Put the red and white pills in it. Then she added the yellow bottle. She put in a purple pill. Victoria made Janna drink it, but here was a lot left. She waited thirty seconds then put the green shot in Janna's left shoulder and the clear in her right. The only things left were the orange and blue pills.

"What! No!" Victoria yelled, "I need the black pill for poison. Those are for injuries. Look for the black pill!" Victoria looked inside the bag. The black pill was at the bottom of the bag. She grabbed it and put it in Janna's mouth, "Swallow."

Janna fell into a deep sleep. Victoria packed everything up. She picked up Janna and moved towards the stadium. Victoria had the others climb up to the top then, she followed carrying Janna.

The group looked down at the field the mutants were fighting the remaining tributes. "Ok," Victoria said, "Pick up a bow and shot arrows. Aim for the eyes." The whole group did just that. They took down about half of the mutants.

"Alright," Victoria said, "Let's join in."


	7. Finally Dead

Nathan was standing at the doorway of the stadium. He didn't know what to do or where Victoria was. Everyone else he was with was fighting the mutants. He didn't want to get eaten alive, so he just stood still. His group was fighting the monsters, which he thought was incredibly stupid. He just waned to take the food and get out of there.

* * *

**A couple days ago…**

Nathan had found the Careers running out of the house he met Victoria in. There were only three of them, but Nathan knew they were deadly. He watched them from the shadows of an alley. One of the boys was carrying a girl in his arms.

"Come on Alonso!" the boy yelled, "We have to get Sabrina out of here."

"I know Nikel! I'm just trying to make sure that that thing isn't going to come out after us!" Alonso yelled. The girl in Nikel's arms, Sabrina, groaned. The two boys ran.

Behind them, a white rabbit emerged. Nathan laughed. They were running from a bunny. The rabbit kept coming out. Nathan's eyes widened. The rabbit's tail was a serpent. Fire and purple gas came out of its mouth. The rabbit hopped off in the opposite direction of the Careers, but Nathan followed them.

The Careers disappeared into a building. Nathan crept in quickly. He took only one step and there was a sword at his neck.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you!" Alonso roared.

"Because I can get you to Victoria," Nathan replied, not knowing if it was true, "She was in that house. She probably killed the other half of your group. If you kill me, she will kill you. I can get her alone. Then you can kill her." _Like that will happen_, he thought.

The Careers kept Nathan alive only because of that. Sabrina was fine. She had only been knocked out by the gas the rabbit's tail produced. The group finished off whatever other tributes they found. It had only been two days ago when they found Lyn.

Lyn ran into them after Conner died. She wanted revenge. Lyn planned to kill Victoria and the remaining tributes. She was deadly with a bow and could kill in seconds.

However, even though Nathan and Lyn both wanted to kill Victoria, something happened that neither of them expected. They fell in love.

Well, for Lyn it was sort of love, but it was mostly lust for Nathan. You see, Nathan is one of those guys who doesn't respect women. He thought he loved Victoria, but he didn't. He longed for Victoria. Lyn was just a replacement. Nathan was also a replacement for Lyn. Conner was her childhood friend. Victoria didn't save him, although she could have, but she didn't. Nathan was just another boy.

Their feelings are what lead to their deaths. They put them aside. Revenge for Lyn, and lust for Nathan.

The group found Iris stealing their supplies. The Careers wanted to kill her, but Lyn and Nathan decided that they could use her as a guinea pig at the stadium. Their plan had worked, well almost. Victoria had changed it all.

* * *

**Present Day**

Victoria left the still unconscious Janna in the tallest point. Even though Janna was older than her, Victoria could carry her with almost no effort. This surprised Victoria because District 10 is in charge of livestock. The Hunger Games must have gotten to Janna because she looked starved. Victoria took the rest of her group down to the level by the weapons pile.

"Iris, Joey, and I will go down there. I want the rest of you to stay up here and shoot arrows. Don't come down unless it is absolutely necessary." With that Victoria jumped onto the weapons pile and slid down onto the field. Iris and Joey looked at each other and followed Victoria.

Victoria drew her sword and charged. She went to the closest beast and stabbed it in the heart. Victoria took down a lot of the mutants that way, but more were appearing the faster she killed.

An arrow sped by her shoulder. "Sorry!" Adelia yelled. Then she screamed. Victoria turned around. Sabrina was by her group. She had slit in Leonard's neck. Ross ran away, but now Sabrina had Adelia cornered.

Victoria sprint to the wall and climbed up, but she was too late. Sabrina had stabbed Adelia in the heart. By the time she got up, Adelia was almost dead and Sabrina had disappeared. "Avenge me," Adelia said. Two cannons sounded.

"That was cheesy," Victoria said through her teeth. Victoria was pissed. Two of her group was dead. Victoria didn't know why she felt so obliged to help the weaker kids. She could have let them die when the lizard monster showed up, but she didn't. She could have let Sam and Rory kill them, but she didn't. Victoria even saved Janna, hopefully. Victoria was confused by her new compassion, but she saw herself when she looked at them. Well, rather herself when she was defenseless.

Victoria left the two deceased and returned to the fight. The other tributes had corned most of the beasts and were now fighting each other. Nikel and Joey were having a sword fight. Iris and Sabrina were fighting too, Sabrina had a sword, but Iris stuck with her axe. Victoria ran for the girls.

She jumped up with her sword and brought it down on Sabrina's arm. "That is for Leonard!" Victoria yelled. Sabrina screamed in pain. "And this is for Adelia!" Victoria yelled as she struck again. Her sword slashed through Sabrina's neck. Sabrina's head rolled off her shoulders and the cannon boomed.

"Sabrina!" Nikel yelled and turned towards Victoria. "Now Iris!" Nikel yelled again. Victoria turned towards Iris. Iris's axe was raised over her head. Victoria raised her sword, but she didn't need to. Iris stopped and fell to the ground. The cannon boomed again.

Joey was standing in front of Victoria. His sword was bloody. "That was for Georgia," he said. Joey turned to Nikel weapons raised.

Victoria looked around the stadium. The most of the monsters had returned to the cages and were starting to fight each other. She was going to stay out of it. She spotted someone standing in the entrance. Victoria smiled. It was Nathan.

* * *

Nathan saw Victoria charging towards him. He was screwed. He took a break for the weapon pile. Nathan grabbed a sword and turned. Victoria was standing twenty feet away leaning on her sword. Nathan couldn't help himself; he thought she looked super-hot.

"Hey bud," she said, "How's life been? I see you got yourself some friends. Ooo, and I heard you swearing when I killed the people from 8."

"You heard that?" Nathan asked. His face flushed.

"Who didn't?" Victoria asked. She raised her sword and charged. Nathan raised his. Their swords clanged.

"When did you learn to use a sword?" Victoria asked. The two circled, blades pressed against each other.

"You didn't know?" Nathan replied, "My father, the mayor, is charge of security. I learned how to use a blade when I was five. What about you? Where did you learn about knives and swords, Tori Tot?"

Victoria pushed Nathan away with her sword, "Don't call me that! I always wondered whom you were related to. I hope you father is proud that he raised a good for nothing scum bag. And I think you know where I learned. Remember the hobo?"

Nathan charged. Their swords clanged again. "That old coot? I didn't know he knew about blades."

"Well he did," Victoria replied, "He knew much more than the security force. Duck." Nathan did and Victoria threw her sword into the mouth of a beast.

"Why would you do that?" Nathan asked, "Now you don't have a weapon. But you look cute when you're angry and trying to kill me."

"I don't need a sword to beat you. Brace yourself." Victoria charged and brought up her fists.

_Left! Right! Right! Right! Left! Kick Right! Right! Kick Right! Knee! Kick Left! Right!_ she thought. And with that Victoria disarmed Nathan, took his blade, and had it on his throat.

"How did you?" Nathan started, "Holy crap!"

Victoria laughed, "You need to stop underestimating women. Grab a sword and face me like a man." Victoria let Nathan up. He grabbed another sword. The two blades rang as they were brought down on each other.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Victoria asked.

"What are you talking about?" Nathan asked.

Their blades rang. "Don't play the fool. You already are one. I know you have a thing for Lyn. She only has a thing for you because her boyfriend died. You are an idiot. Where is she? No doubt she is aiming her bow straight for my head. So where is she?"

"I don't know and I don't care," Nathan said. An arrow hit him in the shoulder, and he sank to his knees.

Victoria turned away from Nathan. "Ah, she's over there," she said as Nathan screamed in pain. Victoria knelt down behind Nathan.

"She did that on purpose you know," Victoria whispered into his ear, "Right now she doesn't care about you. She wants revenge. I'm about to get mine." Victoria brought her sword to Nathan's heart. "You know your group?" she asked, "They are all dead. It was way to easy. I did it before we got on the train. Well, everyone except Tobias, your younger brother. He only did it because you wanted him to. He was the only one who apologized. He apologized everyday. He didn't look that one-day in the alley. Remember that day when you almost got what you wanted? I still hate you for that. I forgave Tobias, but no one else. I even asked him I he would mind if I killed you. Do you know what he said?" Victoria thrust her sword into Nathan's back.

Nathan winced. "He told me to tell you: _See you in hell perv!_" Victoria put all of her weight on the sword. It burst through Nathan's chest just as an arrow pierced through his neck. The cannon roared.

* * *

Lyn looked down at Victoria. That girl was too talented for her own good. Victoria looked up at her and yelled, "Turn around!" Lyn spun around, drawing an arrow at the same time. She released the arrow just as a mutant cat leapt for her. The arrow hit it in the neck, and the creature turned to dust. Lyn jumped down to the field and started walking towards Victoria.

"Thanks," Lyn said as she let another arrow go. It hit Victoria in the right shoulder. She fell to her knees.

"I saved your life!" Victoria yelled as she pulled the arrow out of her shoulder, "Twice!"

"It doesn't matter," Lyn as she notched another arrow, "You didn't save him. And you just killed Nathan." The arrow flew towards Victoria. Victoria ducked and rolled to the right. She reveled her pain when she put her hand on her shoulder as she got up. Lyn quickly notched another arrow and aimed. Victoria raised her left arm to stop the arrow from hitting her neck. The arrow's head buried itself in her left forearm. Victoria took the arrow out, but the head remained inside her arm.

"You know it was Conner's own fault. He shot the arrow at the beast. Every reasonable person knows that most animals charge towards sound and movement. And as for Nathan, you put an arrow in his neck! Even though I killed him first, you were going to!"

Victoria showed no pain as she walked towards Lyn. Lyn started for an arrow, but something knocked the bow out of her hand. Victoria had thrown her sword, and it cut the bow in half.

Lyn smiled, "Now you are unarmed."

"So are you," Victoria replied.

"Think again!" Lyn yelled as she charged. Lyn pulled three knifes out of her boots. She threw one at Victoria, but she caught it on the handle. Victoria threw it back at Lyn; it hit her in the shoulder. Lyn yelled in pain.

"Now we are even," Victoria said. Victoria took out her two knives and charged. Lyn pulled the knife out of her shoulder and threw it. Victoria ducked. The girls' knives were against each other.

The girls continued to swing their knives. From far away it looked like they were dancing.

Lyn yelled, "Why" _CLINK!_ "Won't" _CLINK!_ "You" _CLINK!_ "**DIE?**" _**CLINK!**_

Lyn threw the knife in her right hand. Victoria ducked at the last possible second.

The two girls looked after the knife. Joey and Nikel were still fighting. It was as if time had slowed down. "Joey!" Victoria yelled, "Duck!" Joey did. Nikel's eyes widened as the knife Lyn had thrown came into his view. Time sped back up. Nikel fell to the ground with the knife embedded in his neck.

"Serves you right! You pathetic coin!" Lyn yelled. Lyn was about to yell more insults, cut Victoria cut her off. She threw her knife at Lyn's heart. It hit dead on.

Lyn staggered. "So this is how it ends for Lyndsi Whitarce! Stabbed in the heart by the woman of the hour, Victoria Thorn!" Lyn took a step back. There was a click. Lyn looked down at her feet. Victoria took off sprinting in the other direction.

"Damn," Lyn spat. _**BOOM! **_An arrow entered the fire. Smoke and flames burst. It took awhile for everything to clear. There was no trace of Lyn. The cannon went off.

Victoria didn't know what was louder: the mine or the cannon. Victoria finally looked at her injuries. Her right shoulder was bleeding and the arrowhead was still in her left forearm. Victoria pulled it out. There was a gapping hole, but something was still in it. It took all of Victoria's will to reach in to her arm and pull it out. It was a microchip. The tracking chip had been planted inside her arm before she entered the arena. She put it in her pocket and headed towards her sword.

Just as Victoria reached her weapon, the cannon boomed. Victoria turned towards were she left Janna. Janna hadn't moved. Victoria turned around. About fifty feet away, Alonso was standing over Joey's body.

"Dang it," Victoria yelled, "I thought he was kind of cute!" Alonso laughed. He raised his weapon. It was a bow and arrow. Alonso let the arrow go. Victoria didn't even flinch. The arrow landed about twenty feet away.

"Grab something else!" Victoria yelled, "You obviously can't use that." Victoria was going to yell out more insults, but something cut her off.

"Congratulations to the remaining three tributes alive," the man's voice boomed, "Alonso Jones, Victoria Thorn, and Janna Lawrence! Be on the lookout! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" At that Victoria dashed for the entrance, but Alonso stood still.

* * *

The beasts emerged once again from their cages. They charged towards Alonso. The boy screamed as the creatures jumped on him. Victoria didn't look back. She charged out of the stadium. She closed the gates behind her, but that didn't stop them. The beasts clawed at the gates until they broke. By then, Victoria had climbed onto a roof and was trying to get to Janna.

Victoria managed to get back into the stadium. She climbed back up to where she had left Janna, but she wasn't there. Victoria looked around the stadium for any sign. The beasts were feeding on what used to be Alonso. Some were trying to climb up to her. There was screaming on the other side of the stadium.

Victoria grabbed as much as she could carry. She climbed down, managing to avoid the beasts. She dashed towards the sound. Victoria found Janna cowering in the corner as a green dog approached her. Victoria dropped her gear and tackled the dog.

The dog flew over the railing and into the field, but so did Victoria. She grabbed the last bit of the railing. Mutants started gathering under Victoria waiting for her to fall. The railing couldn't hold her for much longer. Her right shoulder was bursting with pain. Her left forearm was burning. The railing collapsed just as rope fell to her side.

Victoria leapt into the rope. The mutants below got a mouthful of metal. Victoria looked up at Janna. The girl was using her only arm to pull the rope, but Victoria knew she wasn't strong enough.

"Janna!" Victoria called, "Let go! It's just you and me. I'm not going to fight you."

"No way!" Janna argued, "You saved my life on numerous occasions. I'm not going to let go. If you want to die, then you let go!"

"I can't Janna!" Victoria yelled, "If I do, then that's suicide. The Gamemakers will punish my family if I do. You can win. You're eighteen! You have a life! I have nothing. I've spent most of my life running and fighting."

"That's just it Victoria!" Janna replied, "You deserve to win! You were the one who fought. You were the one who saved us. This isn't the Hunger Games; it's the Thorn Games. You are younger than me, but you carried me all the way! You could have let us die, but you didn't! It was my job to look out for my group, but you did it. You are the only one who deserves to win."

"That's very sweet Janna," Victoria called, "But I don't want to win. I came to the Games for revenge and I got it. Nathan and most of his group are dead. I don't need to survive. I don't need medicine. You may be alive and the poison may be out of your system, but you still only have one arm. Janna, even if I did win, I couldn't bear knowing that I won by beating a girl with one arm. You can't hold me for much longer. Janna, I'm begging you, let go."

"Okay," Janna said, "I'll let go, but say your last words first."

Victoria reached into her pocket and grabbed the tracking chip. She crushed it with her hand. She dropped her sword.

"Goodbye you f****** cruel world!" Victoria yelled. Janna dropped the rope. Victoria fell into the field. The beasts swarmed around her. Her green eyes looked up at Janna. She turned her attention back to the beasts.

The last things Janna saw were Victoria's smile and her black hair flying as she grabbed her sword. Then, the beasts jumped on her. The cannon fired its last shot for that year.

After all she had been through, Victoria Thorn was finally dead.

Janna Lawrence was the winner, even though she hadn't killed anyone. Janna didn't count Victoria's death because Victoria wanted it. It took five minutes, but the all beasts turned to ash. When the wind carried it away, there was no sign of Victoria only blood. There was no doubt Victoria Thorn really was dead.

* * *

**Five months later…**

A girl with raven black hair was walking towards District 5 in the middle of the night. She carried a blue bag. She had a sword and scabbard around her waist. Her green eyes shone as bright as the sun. She was on a mission. Then she would disappear. She didn't know where she would go, but she wouldn't stay here.

She crept up to the walls surrounding the District. She climbed a tree next to the wall. She leapt to the top of the wall. She almost lost her footing, but she kept her balance. She was in.

The girl kept to the shadows as she made her way to a lone mansion. She went around to the back door. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. The girl walked around the mansion looked for an open window. She eventually found one. She climbed up the wall and entered the house silently.

She knew where she was going. She entered a room. It looked abandoned. She closed the door and went to the desk in the corner of the room. She sat down and pulled out a piece of paper. She wrote a letter to the one person she cared about.

The girl looked at the bed in the room. She longed to sleep, but she couldn't. Not yet anyway. She folded the letter in half and got up. She made her way to the bed and put something under it. She left the room, leaving the door wide open. She stopped by the room across the hall. She opened the door, peered in, and smiled. She opened the door wide open.

The girl left the house and returned to the wall. This time, she climbed up the stairs that the guards used. She ran and leapt onto a nearby tree. She climbed down and walked into the forest, never to be a prisoner of the Capital again.

Benjamin Thorn woke up. He had heard something. It was late, but he knew he had heard something. It happened a lot. Benjamin thought that it was Victoria a couple times, because her body had never been found, but he was always disappointed.

Benjamin looked around his room. He didn't see anything out of place, but then he saw the door. It was wipe opened. He could see into Victoria's room.

Benjamin got out of bed and crept to his door. He looked down the hall. He continued on to her room. He closed the door and turned on the light. Nothing looked out of place. Benjamin came into her room everyday. He walked around searching for something. When Benjamin got to the desk, he saw the letter. He grabbed it and jumped on her bed. Benjamin opened it.

It read: _Benjamin, _

_ First of all get off my bed!_

Benjamin hopped down.

_That's better. Second of all, I'm sorry. It has been months since we've seen each other. I hope my "death" hasn't been that tough on you. I know I missed your birthday, so Happy Birthday. Fourteen is still very young. Anyway, there is a present for you under my bed. It's the sword District 6 sent me. I think there is still some blood on it. I have plenty more weapons so don't worry about me. Make sure you keep it hidden and __**BE CAREFUL!**__ It is sharp. As you can tell, I am still very much alive. It takes more then mutants to kill me. I faked my death. It wasn't that hard, but I was almost discovered when they scanned the arena for life. Don't worry about being picked for the Games. I'll make sure you won't be. In the last drawer of my dresser is a journal. In it is all I learned from the hobo. I know you knew. I saw you watching us on numerous occasions. I finally found out where he went. There is so much I have found, but if I told you, you might die. Every two months I'll write you a letter. Look in the ruined building. At the top floor there is a panel in the floor. It has a lock. The key is in the journal. The letters will be there. Feel free to write me. If the building is ever demolished, I'll put them on my desk. Make sure no one ever reads them but you. This is goodbye for now. I promise that we will meet again. Just know that I love you. Your beloved sister, Tori Tot aka Victoria Thorn_

**THE END**

* * *

**_I_**_ **do not own the Hunger Games. All rights belongs to Suzane Collins. If I did own the Hunger Games, it would be a lot more violent. **_

**_I hope you enjoyed the story. It was so much fun to write._**

**_BTW: I put Lyn in it because she helped me get over writers block on chapter 6. I didn't think it was fair to put Lyn in without Sam so I put her in as well. They both are still very much alive. And I'm not planning on killing them anytime soon..._**

**_ I am NOT responsible for what you do after reading this. PLEASE DON'T GO OUT AND KILL PEOPLE!_**

**_Oh and Lyn's last name isn't Whitacre._**

_**Thank you for**_** reading and PLEASE REVIEW! It means a lot to me knowing that people like what I have wrote.**

**Once again thanks for reading- _Mistral_**

**_PS- I was thinking of writing a chapter on how Victoria survived. Review and let me know!_**


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